Let's Go Dancing
by PrincepsArgentum
Summary: It's come time for Jeremie and Aelita to realize their relationship isn't quite what it used to be.


"Jeremie, you know something we've never done?" Aelita lay on Jeremie's bed, staring up at the ceiling. The boy sitting at the desk beside her stopped tapping at his keyboard, a flash of thought creasing his brow.

"I… don't know, Aelita, what?"

"We've never danced." It was mostly just an idle observation, although Aelita noted her voice sounded slightly more wistful than she meant it to.

"I suppose we haven't," Jeremie said. He sounded like he didn't know what to feel, which was pretty standard. "Why do you say so?"

"Oh, I was just thinking," she said, sitting up. "I don't think it's something I've ever told you, but… do you remember the time XANA attacked with the teddy bear?"

"How could I forget?"

"There was a dance that night, I remember you talking about Ulrich and Yumi... ever since then, I'd always wanted to go dancing. Fancy clothing, music, seeing all the people… back then, it just sounded all so magical. And I mean, we've __been__ to dances, I've DJ'd before, but nothing quite like what you told me about that night."

Jeremie chuckled. "Yeah…" He cleared his throat. "I've… never been much of a dancer." He trailed off into a mumble and stared at his keyboard for a moment. Aelita felt herself smiling. She had first fallen for the Jeremie who mumbled and blushed and spoke too quickly and never knew which way to look when he was speaking to someone.

"Do you ever miss those days? Before I came to Earth?"

"I-" Jeremie paused. "Sometimes," he finally admitted. "Everything was… __new__ back then." He took a breath, as if he wanted to say more, but nothing came. He did, however, turn his chair to face Aelita. He leaned over, resting his arms on his legs, and made a face that suggested he was thinking intensively, but still said nothing.

"We used to talk for hours about all kinds of things," Aelita said. "You'd tell me about the crazy things Jim said, or whatever Yumi and Ulrich were doing, what the weather was like… it was all so fascinating because I'd never known any of it. I miss it. I miss Lyoko sometimes, just walking place to place for no reason… it was my land, I was__connected__ to it. Earth was just stories you told me. Now they're all just places, and you don't need to tell me stories anymore."

"I-" Jeremie stared, his mouth slightly agape. "I-"

"I'm tired of thinking about XANA and my parents all the time," Aelita said. She stood up, grabbing Jeremie's hands and pulling him up in one fluid motion. Jeremie made no resistance, his entire body almost limp. "Let's go dancing."

"I… we're 15, we can't get into a disco," Jeremie said with wide eyes.

"We can go to the factory," Aelita said simply. "Come to think of it, the factory would actually make a great disco… I'm sure William has a stereo or something. We'll borrow it and go dancing, just the two of us." She felt light, almost glowing, in a way she hadn't felt for as long as she could remember. "Meet me in the park at 8." With a whirl, Aelita was out the door.

* * *

"Jeremie, calm down, I can't understand a word you're saying."

He took several deep breaths and began again. "Aelita and I are going dancing and I… I don't know what to do, I don't know how to dance… I don't know what to wear…" His palms were so sweaty that it was hard to hold the phone to his ear.

"Where are you going dancing? Everything around here's a total dive," William said. "Plus, I gotta say, you and Aelita can't exactly pass…"

"I- we're just… well, we're going to the factory, it's kinda…"

"What? That's adorable! A little date night." William laughed happily. "That's cute, you guys never do anything like that. So what do you need from me?"

"Well, you seem like the kind of guy who would know more about this stuff… What am I supposed to wear?"

"One of your plaid shirts with the sleeves rolled up, a pair of tight jeans… you're a guy, it doesn't have to be a big deal. Do you have anything in black? Or something dark with, like, a little neon… y'know what, as long as you don't show up in a turtleneck and khakis, you're really gonna be fine. I'm sure Aelita will love it regardless."

"It's the principle of the thing," Jeremie said. "It's gotta be good." He threw open his drawers and rifled through everything he could reach at. "No. No. No… god, I should have done my laundry, all of these are so… geeky."

"Jeremie," William said plainly. "You are, well, you're __you__, and your girlfriend is Aelita. You don't need to worry about geeky. Just pick something, don't stress about it."

A purple plaid shirt with neon green stripes sat at the bottom of his drawer. "This works," he said, throwing it on the bed. "But I don't think any of my pants are tight enough."

"I… cannot believe I just heard __you__ of all people say that sentence," William said. "That may have been the greatest moment of my life."

"Be serious, William!" Jeremie snapped.

"I literally just told you not to stress. You know what, sit tight. I'll be right there with everything you need." The line went dead and Jeremie was left to sit on the bed in stunned silence. He looked down at the shirt he had chosen and couldn't help but agonize over whether or not it looked good enough. Jeremie never thought about any of that kind of stuff; fashion was irrelevant to him. He wore what his parents bought him; it was never anything he had to think about.

For as long as he could remember, all he had ever really focused on was the latest program, the latest simulation, the latest upgrade. He had always thought it was such a paramount importance, but Aelita was right. The days of bringing her to Earth was over. The days of talking for hours and desperate work to have her in his arms were over, and programming wasn't the only thing he could do for Aelita anymore. How long had he been so ignorant? Years? Suddenly he was at the bottom of a pit and the only thing that could bring him out was a date night in an abandoned factory.

No shirt of his could ever be good enough to live up to that.

There was a knock at the door. Jeremie got up and opened it; William stood before him with a stereo on one shoulder, a pair of pants draped over the other, and a box in his hand. "Odd says these were too big for him, which probably means they're perfect for you," he said, handing the jeans to Jeremie. "And Aelita texted me asking to borrow my stereo, so here you are." He walked inside and set it on the bed. "And the shirt's fine!"

Jeremie held the pants to his waist, and then up to the light. "There's no way I'm going to ever fit into these!"

"Think of it as a challenge," William said. "Trust me, if you believe hard enough, you can fit into anything."

"That's illogical. And so is wearing tight pants when you're going to be dancing! You want full range of motion, don't you?"

"Fashion and full range of motion don't mix," William said. "You said you wanted everything to be genuine. You can't go clubbing in sweatpants."

"Well, if I'm to look the part…" Jeremie looked from the pants to William. "Um… could you… do you mind?" He jerked his head towards the door.

William's face morphed into his trademark smirk. "Let me know if you need any help," he said as he walked out.

Jeremie stared at the jeans, and could swear they were looking back at him. He could feel them judging him. "Okay, Jeremie, you can do this." He sat down on the edge of the bed and slid them on, struggling to pull them even past his shins. "Come __on__!"

He realized he was still wearing his other pants. With a resigned sigh, he peeled off both pairs of jeans and started over. This time, it wasn't until mid-thigh that he encountered resistance. "This doesn't even make sense," he muttered, tugging with all his might. Not that "all of his might" amounted to much. He slid off the bed and stood up, trying to jump his way in, struggling all the while to button the fly – and then he fell flat on his face.

William burst into the room. "Jeremie, are you alright?"

Jeremie remained on the floor, face down. "I have created virtual worlds. I have hacked the CIA. I know the secret to time travel. I have saved the entire world from certain destruction on several occasions. And here I lie, defeated by a pair of pants," he said to the carpet.

"Oh, get up," William said, grabbing the boy by his shirt and lifting him up.

Jeremie's glasses fell from his face in two pieces.

"Well… shit," Jeremie groaned. He went to pick them up when William grabbed him.

"Don't bend over," William said. "You'll probably rip the pants." William crouched down and picked up the pieces, setting them on Jeremie's desk. "How blind are you without them?"

"I can't see your face," Jeremie said. "I don't even have the energy to care," he said as he buttoned his fly. "Hand me that shirt."

William tossed him the shirt, and it hit him right in the face. "Well, the pants look great at any rate," he said.

"I wish I could tell," Jeremie said as he threw off his t-shirt and tossed it aside. "I can't even see the buttons on this thing." He pulled the button-up on and attempted to feel them out.

"You don't have a spare?"

"Nope, just some contact- don't even think about it. I hate them."

"You're probably going to trip over your feet anyway, do you want to make it worse by not being able to see your feet at all? Not to mention, you won't be able to see Aelita. Fashion is sacrifice," William said.

"Since when are you an expert on fashion?"

"You __asked __me for my advice! Where are they?"

"Top drawer," Jeremie sighed. "Damn it, I missed a button."

"Okay, so have you ever done this before? Because I sure haven't."

"Like, once. You just pop 'em in, right?"

Fifteen minutes later, Jeremie could see again, although his eyes would probably be watering all night. "All said and done, Jeremie, I'd say this worked out pretty well," William said. "One last thing."

William brandished the box he had brought with him. "You can't have a date night without this."

The box contained a bottle of cologne. "You cannot be serious," Jeremie said.

"You've gone this far, you might as well do this," William said, grabbing the bottle. "Plus, I mean, you are going to walk through a sewer."

Jeremie capitulated. "Just get it over with."

"Put out your arms, all we need is a little dab on the-" William pressed the button to no effect. "What the?" He pressed again, his brow furrowed. "Come on. Oh, this thing is a piece of-" The bottle practically exploded with spray, and Jeremie was lost in a puff of cologne and a fit of coughing.

"I HATE YOU SO MUCH," Jeremie shouted between hacking coughs. "This doesn't even smell good! What is this? It smells like my grandfather rolled around in a vat of cinnamon."

"It's __classic__," William said, crossing his arms. "But hey, smell is the strongest sense tied to memory. She'll never forget tonight! Now get going, Einstein, before you get too nervous to walk."

* * *

The park trails were unlit, but the light of the moon guided Jeremie to his destination. It was a clear night with a full moon, just like the night he first met Aelita. There was no breeze, and the only sounds he heard were his own feet and his own heartbeat. At this point, he really was almost too nervous to walk. It wasn't the dancing or even his clothes that made him so nervous, it was Aelita. So much was riding on all of this, maybe even their whole relationship. He had to find a way to make her so happy she would forget about XANA, about her parents, about Lyoko, all of it. He wasn't sure he could make that happen with a stereo and a pair of skinny jeans.

Aelita sat on a stump, her legs delicately crossed. She wore a strapless pink dress he had never seen before, with high black heels and several gold bangles on her wrist. There was something… different about her hair, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it. She rose to greet him, her cheeks as pink as her dress. "Jeremie, you look so… sleek." The grin on her face told him it was in a very good way.

"I like your hair," Jeremie said lamely.

"I… brushed it," she said with a laugh. "Are you wearing cologne?" She took a deep breath through her nose. "You're so dashing."

Jeremie took a few uneasy steps up to Aelita, and grabbed her hands. He wasn't quite sure what to do with them, but it felt good to hold them. "So… I still don't know how to dance," he admitted. "And I just now realized I forgot to bring the stereo."

Aelita smiled. "It was never really about the music, or even the dancing, really," she said, pulling Jeremie close to him. "It was about us being together for a moment, with nothing on our minds except each other."

"Good, because I don't think I can dance in these pants."

"Nor I in these heels. But… maybe we could try."

Jeremie placed a hand on Aelita's hip, and the other on her shoulder. "It's just a simple, logical pattern, really," he said shakily. "You just sorta… step back and forth, right?"

"Easier said than done," Aelita giggled, her legs shaking as much as Jeremie's voice.

"Do you remember our first night together, walking through town in the moonlight, with the flowers…"

"How could I forget?"

"I think about that a lot," he said, leaning his head onto her shoulder. "I'll go to bed at however late it is and look out at the moon, and remember, even if just for a moment. It was such a beautiful night." He paused. "You were always my inspiration, Aelita. Everything I've done, I did for you."

"I know, Jeremie," she said softly, stroking his hair. "You've always been my hero."

They stepped back and forth together, to no tune or even to any real rhythm, but in that moment, neither of them even remembered they were dancing.


End file.
